In A Digital Bangladesh, Where Are We With E-Health/Digital Health?

One would think that the hype about Digital Bangladesh is limited to purer forms of IT such as software development by looking at majority of the media coverage around the topic. Well, one would be wrong! The rise of startups in other sectors, albeit slowly, is noticeable and a remarkable number of them are in the Digital/e-Health vertical.

Just like many other countries in the SEA region, the logistical challenges of staying healthy and preventing diseases are felt by people of all walks of life. Digital Health/e-Health startups are all about solving those problems with the help of information technology. In doing so however, they themselves have been facing a similar, if not greater challenge of integrating IT into the lives of people who are largely disconnected from that apart from social media usage. Enter pioneers Praava, Telenor Health (Tonic), CMED, Maya, Olwel that have brought some sort of solutions to the table.

Praava has already proven its services as tremendously helpful for the users by offering membership plans, diagnostics and family health services from trained professionals. The predictably promising future it has however should be attributed to the great leadership of its founder Sylvana Quadir Sinha and her cohorts. We have seen it time and again how important it is to have good leadership to survive in the startup ecosystem in Bangladesh.

As the name suggests, Telenor Health (Tonic) is backed by Telenor which is a good indicator of its current worth and future possibilities. Unlike other sectors in the startup scenario, digital health or e-Health isn’t exactly a turnkey business opportunity and that means having an established investor helps with both initial sustenance and room for growth without constant profitability concerns. Their partnerships with existing healthcare providers are strong indications of their quality and promises.

CMED works with a rather unique architecture, their sensor or device accompanies an app to provide health monitoring service. Patients with ongoing medical conditions that require keeping tabs of their health, such as diabetics and stroke patients are their key demographic.

Maya is working in yet another underdeveloped sector, anonymous consultancy. Their reward? Apart from the funding from BRAC, getting accepted as the first Bangladeshi startup in Google’s Launchpad program and securing more funding shortly afterwards, Maya is a recognized platform for digital wellbeing assistance.

Olwel has been successfully bridging the information gap between a patient and the right doctor, a need that has been felt my most but not really fulfilled until it came along. The team they began with is worthy of being in multiple who’s who lists which is portrayed by their participation in a sector that’s been mostly untouched by professionals.

Even with a quick Glance at these teams, you can’t miss their passion for making the country a better place to live in for everyone. The challenges they have overcome as well as the ones they still face are apparently making them stronger and more focused. I for one, can’t think of a better driver. They are the kind of heroes we need the most.

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